Witch Hunt
by TheStigsWriterCousin
Summary: Dean pisses off the wrong witch and ends up in love with someone or something that he really shouldn't. Dean/OMC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I've just recently gotten back into Supernatural and I had forgotten how much I love Dean... It's going to move a little slowly, but hang in there. There will be some steamy scenes and some M. Night twists... The story takes place somewhere during season 1, before things got too complicated. Sam never went back to hunting with Dean after the first trip. Enjoy and let me know what you think :)

Dean rolled over, covering his eyes with his arm as the sunlight poured in through the dingy motel curtains. He wanted to go back to sleep more than anything, but he peeked around the room, eyes hidden, certain that something wasn't right. Having been raised a hunter, he learned a long time ago which gut feelings shouldn't be ignored, hangover or no.

Nothing looked out of place in the small room, but he definitely heard a noise. He crept out of bed, soundless and light on his feet, hoping it was nothing too dangerous to be fighting in boxers. He shrugged off the lack of wardrobe and reached into the bag at the end of the bed.

He stood back from the bathroom door, where he heard the noise coming from, holding his favourite sawed-off shotgun. His aim was fixed, ready to take down anything that walked through if he needed to. He'd have to high-tail out of the motel if he fired even a single round, but he was prepared for that as well. With back-up license plates in the trunk and a full tank of gas, he could be out of town in less than an hour.

Tightening his grip as the noises got louder, he bit the inside of his cheek. The bathroom door swung open, revealing the last thing that Dean expected to see. He had to keep himself from shooting right away as what looked to be a normal boy came into view. Dean knew better than to trust your eyes all the time, though. He could be any number of things and the hunter wasn't entirely sure that the witch he was hunting was a woman.

He rushed forward, pinning the boy against the wall before he could react. "What are you?" With his left arm across the other's chest, he held the gun against his face, trying to intimidate an answer out of him.

The boy's eyes were wide as his hands came up to pull Dean's arm off of him. After a few tugs, he realized that Dean's position, weight and height gave him the complete advantage.

Dean kept looking at him, waiting for an answer and seeing nothing but a scared kid. "I said, what are you?"

"Um… I'm Kyle, I came here with you last night…" He bit his lip as the gun pressed tighter against his skin. "Oh god, you're not one of those guys that takes boys home from the bar, has sex with them and then murders them, are you? Please don't kill me! My body won't fit in the mini fridge…"

The hunter's instincts were kicking in again, telling him that the boy wasn't a threat. He only half listened to them as he lowered his gun, but held his position. "I'm not going to kill you. As long as you can explain who you are and what you're doing in my room."

As the gun dropped, Kyle felt slightly less scared, but was still completely confused. "You don't remember?" He thought to himself for a second before making a request. "Okay, I'll tell you everything that happened, but can you please back up just a little?"

Dean considered it reasonable and backed away only slightly, removing his weight and putting a few inches between them. "Start from the beginning. I remember the bar, but I don't remember leaving with anyone, certainly not you."

Kyle looked a little hurt as Dean insinuated that he wouldn't willingly leave with someone like him. "Well you did. When I first got there, you were arguing with some woman, but when she left, you started talking to me. You were much more charming last night…" The young man looked like a kicked puppy with the pout on his face.

Dean vaguely remembered the woman he was speaking of. He was almost certain that she was the witch he was hunting, but why would he talk to this kid, much less bring him back to his room?

He thought back to the conversation with the witch, remembering that she and her friends had him completely surrounded in a crowded place. He let her leave to avoid killing a lot of innocent people, but that doesn't explain Kyle.

"What next?" Dean's rough voice asked as he rubbed his head. The witch had to have skipped town. By now she could be anywhere.

"Um… Well we talked and played pool and had some drinks." Dean raised his eyebrow in a way that said 'and then?'. Kyle blushed started gnawing on his lip again. "Well, you know…"

Dean was losing his patience quickly. He went to grab a bottle of painkillers from his bag, sitting on the end of the bed. "No, I really don't."

"Come on, you weren't that drunk. And hopefully, I wasn't that forgettable…" He seemed a little hurt that Dean could so easily forget what he thought was an incredible night.

Dean coughed on his water and wiped his lips. "You mean we…? Oh god." He remembered why he'd taken the boy with him. He was supposed to protect him. The witch gave Dean a choice: He could fight them, which was obviously a suicide mission that would kill almost everyone in the bar or he could stay at the bar and let them leave.

His final option was to leave and try to find them later, in which case, they would send someone back to pick up an innocent, helpless straggler to torture to death. The witch picked Kyle, probably because he was the only one in the bar not currently or soon to be going through a mid-life crisis. He was an unlucky, easy target, that's all.

Kyle's embarrassed silence answered his question plenty well enough. Dean took a moment to be thankful for the fact that the other man was at least of drinking age before he thought back to his original plan, which had most certainly not included having sex with the young boy. The fact that he had barely slept or ate in the past four days probably had something to do with his poor alcohol tolerance last night.

He had to make sure the witches had all left town before he let Kyle leave and continued the chase and to do that, he had to make sure not to scare the kid off. "Okay, listen, Kyle. I'm sorry that I pulled my gun on you, it's just that I have a very dangerous job and I'm a little cautious sometimes." If he couldn't convince him to willingly follow his orders, he would still be able to tie him up and gag him if necessary. That would be a little more difficult., though.

Kyle picked up the towel he'd dropped earlier and went to sit on the other side of the bed. "It's okay, I know."

"…What do you mean 'you know'?" Dean's stomach twisted. Just how much had he told this kid?

"Yeah, you told me last night that you're a bounty hunter. I get it, it's okay."

He sighed, thankful that he was a good liar even drunk. "Right. Anyway, I've been working this case here in town and since I might have been seen with you last night, you may be in some danger." Dean knew the risks of having Kyle stay with him through the hunt, but it would be worse if he left the kid on his own. "So, why don't we head out for some breakfast and we'll figure this all out?"

The boy nodded his head and smiled. Dean thought it was odd that it made him want to smile a little too. As Dean stood up to grab his clothes, he felt eyes on him and smirked. So what if it made him conceited? He liked to be looked at like that and truth be told, the younger man was very attractive, he just wasn't Dean's type.

"I'm going to shower real quick." Before he shut the bathroom door, he turned back. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

-TBC


	2. Chapter 2

As they talked and ate, Dean felt a familiar feeling. He remembered a little of what he talked with Kyle about the night before, feeling oddly comfortable. He never had an issue picking up strangers, but he rarely actually cared about what they had to say. It was something new for him.

He found himself sharing more than he had in a long time, smudging some of the details of course. Before he knew it, he was telling the kid about the case, again not exactly telling the whole truth.

"These are the people we're looking for. I need to know if you see any of them, they are dangerous." He showed Kyle pictures of the witch and her back-up so he could have the extra pair of eyes. If the kid had to tag along, he might as well be useful and truth be told, he liked teaching him. He used to love to teach Sammy when he was finally old enough to hunt.

He had forgotten how much he liked having someone watch his back and help him work out a plan. The kid was smart, that's for sure; and he picked up a lot of details that Dean missed. Overall, the plan was a lot smoother than if he had just worked it up on his own, which was definitely to their advantage. The first move was to find the witches and Dean had a hunch as to where they would go next.

As they drove down the highway, they made some small talk when the music got repetitive and after that, they sat quietly, Dean watching the road while Kyle watched the passing scenery. As they pulled into town, locating a motel to set up in, the silence filling the car was broken. "So why did you say you wouldn't go home with someone like me?"

Dean was caught off guard by the question, having been going through his own thoughts. "Uh… Well, you're just not my normal type. That's all."

Kyle looked skeptical, after having spent the night and a few hours with the older man, he thought they got along great. "And what is your normal type?"

The hunter thought for a moment, before answering. "Well, usually they're women… But for men, I usually like them tall and brooding, not pretty and doe-eyed."

Kyle smacked Dean's arm and then held onto the dash and the car swerved into a parking spot.

"Watch it, I'm driving here!" He yelled dramatically before looking over and laughing. "I guess you're not so bad…"

He scoffed, mocking offense. "Not so bad, he says."

Dean stopped laughing long enough to make eye contact, thinking to himself that earlier, he thought the kid's eyes were blue, not green. He was almost certain of it. Before he knew it, he was unbuckling his seatbelt, leaning over to the other side of the car. His hand crossed the boy, resting on the side of his neck, pulling him up to close the gap. Their lips connected, surprising the passenger.

Kyle closed his eyes immediately and leaned forward, more than willing to meet the warmth of the hunter's mouth. Just as he was about to bring his own hands up, Dean broke away, keeping their faces to close. He tried to lean in again, initiating another kiss, but the older man pulled back again, just slightly.

Dean tightened his grip on the boy's neck for a moment before letting go and sitting back against his own seat.

Kyle licked his lips and looked over. "You're not so bad yourself." He smiled and got out of the car, leaving Dean to wonder why exactly he'd done that and why he wanted to do it again.

- The Motel -

Normally Dean wouldn't spring for a room, but Kyle begged him and offered to pay for it. Plus, it had been a while since he'd had some time with the magic fingers.

They went over the plan again, getting ready for tomorrow before Kyle claimed the shower. They only had another 6 hours or so to go in the morning, but the kid was right, a shower and some good sleep wouldn't hurt their cause at all.

"I'm gonna go grab a pizza from down the street, don't go anywhere!" He hollered on his way out the door. A while later, Kyle made his way out of the bathroom, a towel being furiously rubbed against his hair. The tiniest bit of water dripped down his back, into his pants as he dug through his pockets for change. He was too thirsty to wait for Dean and there was a soda machine right around the corner.

Dean fumbled with his motel key for a moment before opening the door to an empty room. He set the pizza on the table, his stomach dropping as he called out. "Kyle?" He peeked in the bathroom before slamming his fist against the wall. "Fuck! I shouldn't have left…"

All of the things that could have gone wrong ran through his mind and as he turned to leave, heading for the car and his big guns, the main door opened behind him. Before it closed, he rushed across the room, both relieved and angry. "Where the hell were you? I told you not to leave!"

Kyle stepped back against the door, thrown by how upset the other man was. "I just went to get a soda. It's not a big deal."

Dean took a deep breath. "Not a big deal? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" His tone went from pissed off to genuinely upset and his seriousness struck Kyle. "Please, just don't do that again."

Kyle gulped, feeling like a jerk for making Dean worry. He wasn't used to such a simple act being so serious or dangerous and Dean was just looking out for him. He was worried about him. He nodded. "I won't."

They looked at each other for a moment before they both moved in, lips crashing, hands pulling at clothing. Dean didn't know what he was doing, but he couldn't stop himself. He'd been so worried for a moment and now that Kyle was back, he was so relieved, he just wanted to touch him everywhere and make sure he was all right. Kyle set his drink down, barely landing it on the edge of the table as they quickly made their way to the bed.

The young man couldn't help but think that it felt so good to have their bare bodies rubbing together. It was even better than the other night when they were both drunk and fumbling. This time, every move that Dean made was precise and it sent wave after wave of pleasure through him as he stroked him.

As they kissed and touched, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Dean's mind that he chose to ignore for the time being. He pushed it out of his mind as he slowly slid inside the small boy underneath him, shutting his eyes tightly.

Kyle bit his lip and dug his fingers into Dean's arms. They'd been together the night before, but without much preparation, it was still a tight fit. Dean chose to distract him from the discomfort by kissing the sensitive skin on his neck.

Kyle groaned as the other found one of his sweet spots with his tongue and he called out his name to let him know that he was ready. They continued to kiss and touch as they moved together. Kyle broke their lip lock to let out a breathy moan as he felt Dean dragging completely out of him only to re-enter a moment later.

Dean thrust harder as he heard the noises coming from his partner. He could feel his own orgasm building just as he could feel the boy below him, gripping him tighter all over. He reached his hand between them and stroked along with his movements, determined to be the second to climax.

Kyle grabbed Dean with one hand and the bed sheets with the other as he came, the hands on him overloading him with pleasure. Just as he was getting uncomfortably sensitive, Dean released as well, pulling out and collapsing on top of him. As they both breathed heavily, Dean moved to lay beside him.

As the foggy afterglow of sex wore off, the nagging thought came back to him. He was getting way too attached to this kid way too quickly. They needed to finish this hunt fast so that he could drop him off safely and never see him again. Even as that crossed his mind, Dean felt like he couldn't do it. He didn't want to never see Kyle again and that scared him more than any monster he'd ever hunted.

- TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So... Been writing a lot lately. A little bit on every story as I get inspired. Sorry it takes so long between updates, I just hate trying to force myself to write. Hope it's worth the wait for the few of you that are actually reading this!

"They're getting close, what's the plan?" A scruffy young man in a leather jacket picked dirt from under his nails with a knife, looking up at his leader.

"That _is_ the plan. There's nothing they can do to me. If the Winchester kid kills me, that spell will turn rotten and I just know he won't be able to live with himself after what it will make him do." She leaned against the counter, cockiness written all over her face.

"But what if he kills the kid after he finds out?" They'd been over the plan a half dozen times, but the dirty crony wasn't the smartest guy around. He was the hired muscle, anyway, not the brains.

"As much as his instinct will tell him that he should, he won't be able to. By this time, the spell has already gotten a hold of him. He should be head over heels by now and to live after having killed the person you're in love with… I have a feeling it would drive him insane." She chuckled to herself, full of excitement for the days to come.

No one escaped Dean Winchester once in his sights, but she had outsmarted him and in the end, she would be the one to kill him. First, though, she would turn his world upside down.

- On the Road -

They sat in a Metallica-filled silence after they had run out of things to talk about. After 10 hours on the road, Dean had run out of things to say, not being able to divulge much about himself and Kyle didn't seem to like being the subject of conversation.

Kyle broke the quiet with a small grunt. "Dean, I don't feel so good… Can you pull over?"

He looked over skeptically. "Right now? We're in the middle of nowhere.."

The young man grabbed his stomach and groaned louder. "Yes, now! God, I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Dean swerved quickly to the side of the road, slamming on the brakes. "Not in my car!" As they stopped, he got out and ran to the passenger side, opening the door just in time for Kyle to throw himself onto the ground, emptying his stomach.

He held onto the car's frame as he heaved forward, shaking. Kyle felt his head being petted almost, Dean's fingers running across his hair sympathetically. As he finished, breathing heavily, he sat back and closed his eyes.

"You okay?" Dean had pulled some napkins from the to-go boxes in the back seat and offered them along with a bottle of whiskey.

Kyle gladly took them, cleaning himself up as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess I ate something bad, I don't know…" He swished some of the whiskey around in his mouth and spit it out on the ground. It was only a slight upgrade from the taste he was trying to wash out.

"Yeah, I guess." Dean agreed, but that excuse didn't sit well with him. They'd ordered the same thing at the diner, Kyle must have remembered that... He shrugged it off, obviously he wasn't feeling well, he probably wasn't thinking straight.

"Next town we hit, can we stop somewhere with a restroom?" He sounded pathetic, even to himself and Dean felt sorry for him. He had been handling trip surprisingly well, rarely asking for a break or complaining.

"Yeah, sure." He brushed a piece of the brunette's wavy hair out of his face and they both got back in the car. Dean kept glancing over, worried for the small boy in the passenger seat.

They pulled up to a small 24 hour diner and Dean ordered their food as Kyle excused himself. The restroom was a single-serve, not stalls, for which Kyle was very thankful. He locked the door and turned the fan and sink on, wanting to make some distracting noise.

He took his clothing off, setting it in a neat pile next to the sink before staring at his naked body in the mirror. Satisfied that he had taken it all in, he reached up, covering his mouth. He couldn't afford for Dean to hear him.

He held his hand tight across his lips as his skin bubbled and flexed, bones stretching under the surface. He used to have to remove his skin to change, but he had learned to shift in a much less messy way with practice. He'd never been so glad for that.

"You okay in there?" Dean came knocking on the door just as he had started shifting back into a new Kyle. He closed his eyes, remembering every detail of the way he looked before. One small mistake and Dean could find out about him.

After he finished, he could feel that Dean was outside waiting for him, though he hadn't said anything else. "Sorry, I'm fine now. I'll be out in a minute. Don't eat my food!" He looked himself over in the mirror and thought to himself that he did a pretty good job, hoping that Dean couldn't tell.

As he walked up to the booth where Dean was sitting, he stopped in his tracks, staring out the window. "You still feel sick?" The hunter looked at him, trying to hide his worry.

"Isn't that one of the guys we're looking for?" He tilted his head and squinted a bit, the setting sun obscuring his view.

Dean looked over as he jerked Kyle into the booth, trying to hide him. "Yeah, that's one of them. Keep an eye out for the others, they won't be far away."

Kyle's stomach dropped as the mood got serious. The guy he spotted didn't look so huge from the picture. He knew that Dean was in good shape and was clearly good at what he did, but the thought of him going one-on-one with that giant made him nervous.

"I'm not really in the mood for eating..." Kyle noticed that the food hadn't been brought yet.

"Let's go." Dean was glad that the kid understood the subtlety of their situation and that they no longer could afford to stay where they were.

They shuffled out of the booth as quickly as they could, the waitress hollering behind them as the walked out the door. They almost made it to the car when the brute of a man ran up behind Kyle, grabbing the shocked boy around the waist. Dean drew his gun as the man held a knife against the boy's throat and looked across the top of the car at Dean.

"Drop the gun." He demanded with no hesitation as two others walked up behind Dean, both heavily armed. Dean did as he was told and shortly after, felt a sharp pain as everything went black.

Kyle's eyes were wide as Dean dropped to the ground after one of the men hit him with the butt of his pistol. His breathing was rough and he whimpered as the towering man pushed him into the back seat of the Impala, sitting next to him.

The men from the other side loaded Dean's limp body in the back seat next to Kyle, before moving to the front of the car. He felt completely helpless, but did the best he could to focus, remembering the directions for where they were going. He wasn't sure it would be helpful, but it would keep his mind occupied.

If he had to guess, he'd say it had taken about half an hour to get to the run-down warehouse outside of town. The jolt of the stop caused Dean to stir, eyes cracking open just in time to see Kyle being pulled out of the car, kicking and screaming. "Dean!"

The world was spinning, before he could get a grip on it, the door behind him opened and a gun was aimed at his head. "Get out."

He almost rolled out of the car as he looked around, realizing that they had driven them somewhere else. The thought of the man in front of him driving his baby made his blood boil almost as much as the sight of the larger man sending Kyle to the ground with a punch to the jaw.

Dean stopped in his tracks, watching Kyle on the ground, breathing a sigh of relief when he started to move, pushing himself up. The big man grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him back up to standing. He shoved the kid forward into the building as Dean was led the same way at gunpoint.

"Good evening, gentlement." The witch came up to greet them once they were inside, her tongue running along her teeth as she smirked. They stood close together, but the fact that he couldn't reach out and comfort Kyle meant that they may as well have been in different towns.

The last man in barred the door with a loud, metallic clang. They had fortified the building for this encounter, no doubt. Dean let her talk as he surveyed the surroundings, scouting for exits and potential weapons.

"I told you not to follow me, Dean. I told you I'd hurt him and here you brought him right to me. Are you TRYING to test me?" He voice went from calm to outraged in one breath, raising her hand as if to hit Kyle, but stopped, taking a deep breath.

She was right, he brought a civilian into this dangerous situation and whatever happened, it would be his fault. He looked at Kyle, fear in his eyes, his bottom lip bleeding and he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"It's okay, Dean. I'm not going to hurt him. I'll leave that to you." She smiled at him again, with a look in her eyes that said she was up to something. When Dean didn't budge, she raised her eyebrows and chuckled as she circled Dean, her hands playing with his jacket. "It'll make sense soon enough."

She stopped behind Dean. her head peeking up over his shoulder, her nose rubbing against his neck. His lip turned up into a silent snarl, not in a position to push her away.

"You know that Dean isn't really a bounty hunter, right?" She asked Kyle, her grin widening as the boy tried to hide his confusion. Dean bit his lip in annoyance. What was she getting at?

"He IS a hunter, though. He hunts monsters." She pushed off of Dean, strolling casually between the two of them. "Like me, for example, I'm a witch and he wants to kill me."

Dean watched the color drained from Kyle's face as she spoke, moving toward him. "He hunts demons, and ghosts..." She pulled a knife from behind her back and slashed across the boy's arm before he knew what was happening.

"And shapeshifters." The muscular henchman grabbed Kyle's arm, holding it out for everyone to see. Dean's anger was boiling over as he saw the way the skin reacted to the blade, confusing him.

"Dean, it's not what you think!" He barely managed to scream before the man covered his mouth.

"Whatever kind of trick you're playing here, let's get to the point already." Dean was pissed and confused, but wanted to get to the end game.

She walked back over to Dean, clearly not having gotten the response she was looking for. "There's no trick, Dean. He's a monster, just like me and if you don't put him down, I will."

Dean couldn't hold his anger anymore, reaching out to backhand the witch while she was close enough to strike. Before he could do anything else, the men behind him ran up with their guns. She held her hands up, calling them off as she wiped the blood from her mouth.

"Here's how this is going to work, Dean. I'm going to bleed you out at midnight as a part of the ritual that you interrupted last week. I don't need him. I could kill him now, but... No. I'll let you do your job, Dean. He's a monster, kill him."

She jerked her head to the side, motioning for them to be transported to the cellar. "Oh, and Dean? If I have to kill him later, it won't be pretty."

Both captives walked silently, lead down a dark hallway to the bottom of a set of stairs. The room they were put in was empty, nothing but a light in the center of the ceiling. The door was heavy and there were no windows. They wouldn't be able to escape.

Once the door was shut and they were alone, Dean spoke up. "Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?" His voice was hard and rough and Kyle shook as he spoke, frightened of what Dean might do to him.

"I..." Kyle shook as Dean slammed his fist against the wall.

Dean took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. As angry and confused as he was, he didn't want to scare Kyle. "Look at me." He waited patiently as Kyle raised his head, clearly terrified of Dean.

He reached out his hand to touch Kyle, to try to comfort him in some way, but was rejected. Kyle jerked back against the wall, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? We got bigger things to deal with, but you gotta work with me here. I just found out I've been bunkmates with a damn shapeshifter for the past week and if we don't get a plan together on how to gank this bitch in the next few hours, we're both dead."

Kyle nodded, but stayed where he was.

"First, let's get that cut wrapped up, okay?" Dean reached out again, this time more slowly. He was a little relieved when the boy didn't pull away from him.

Once his wound was taken care of, Dean went to pull away when Kyle grabbed his hand. "I have an idea." He closed his eyes, pulling his hand back, clenching his fist. He cried out as his skin started to move. Dean reached out to see if he was all right, but Kyle evaded his touch. "No! Don't..."

Dean just stood back and watched as Kyle shifted, torn between wanting to be sick and wanting to hold him. It didn't make sense to him until his new shape started forming, with long blonde hair and dark brown eyes.

Kyle coughed and dry heaved for a moment before regaining his composure. He looked up at Dean, feeling a pang in his chest at the look of horror on his face. It had been a long time since he'd seen that face.

"Wow." Dean didn't know what to say. He'd read the lore about shapeshifters, but had never encountered one before, much less seen one change with his own eyes. "Well, that's something."

Kyle stared off into space as if he was searching the witch's mind for information. "This ritual tonight... She wants to summon a demon and bind him..." He grabbed his head as the thoughts came pouring through.

Dean reached out again, not taking no for an answer. It felt weird to be holding him when he looked like the witch, but it felt more weird to not hold him.

"Dean... She put a spell on us." He looked up at Dean with his new brown eyes.

"What?" Dean felt dirty to know what the bitch had hexed them.

"It's a love spell. If you kill her, the spell will backfire and you'll kill me and then yourself. Or you'll go crazy... I don't think she's sure what will happen, but it won't be good." He felt his heart sink a little to know that Dean only cared about him because of this witches tricks.

Dean went to curse, but bit his tongue, trying to appear calm in front of Kyle. "Is there a way to undo it?"

Kyle paused for a moment, searching for the information, frowning when he came up empty. "There's not a way to break the spell. It breaks when she dies."

"But we can't kill her?" Dean rubbed his hands through his hair, frustrated beyond belief.

"...WE can't kill her." Kyle emphasized.

Dean raised his eyebrows, smiling a little. "Right. Now I have an idea."

Kyle still looked worried, afraid of what would happen between him and Dean after the witch was dealt with.

They killed the time by working out their plan, both avoiding the uncomfortable subject of what would happen later.

"Dean... I can't stay like this." He motioned to the witch's body. "She's not strong and even though I know how to use the spells she knows, we don't have anything to make use of that."

"And if she sees you like that, she'll know that we know what she's up to." Dean didn't have any idea what to do next. "How did you turn into her anyway? You can just be anybody you want?"

"No... It doesn't work quite like that. I have to touch someone to become them." When he saw Dean trying to work it out, he stepped in. "You had her blood on your hand."

"Right. What do we do then?" Dean hated to feel helpless, but he was clueless about what their options were. He did his best to hide his worry.

Kyle looked like he wanted to say something, but was afraid to speak up. "There are a couple of options... I touched two of the guards."

"Well, for strength, that would be an upgrade. For brains... Not so much."

Kyle smiled a little at the comment, knowing from the witch's thoughts that he was right about them not being the brightest henchmen around. "It would be better... If I became you." He spoke softly, unsure of himself and the way that Dean would react to the suggestion.

Dean blinked, having not considered that option. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find anything to say.

"It would give us the best advantage. You're strong AND smart and you know about monsters and..." Kyle rambled on, trying to explain himself.

"It's a good idea." Dean cut him off. As much as he didn't want the kid to have access to his every thought and memory, it was their best chance.

"Are you sure?" He didn't want Dean to hate him more than he probably already did.

When Dean nodded, he turned around, not wanting to see the look of disgust again so soon. He twisted and shifted, his delicate female form stretching and filling out. He dropped down to his knees, the stress of having changed too many times in such a short span overwhelming him.

"Kyle!" Dean ran over to him, catching him as he collapsed onto the floor. It was messing with his head to look down at himself, unconscious.

It was only a few moments before his eyes creaked open, staring up at Dean, happy to see a look of worry instead of disdain.

"You okay?" Dean was short with him, but meant well.

"Yeah..." Dean helped him sit up. "Changing back to back like that is kind of rough." He leaned his head back against the wall, trying to absorb everything that was coming to him from Dean's mind. "And earlier too..."

"Earlier?" Dean thought back to the way his gut had told him that something wasn't right with Kyler earlier in the day. "That's what that was about?"

Kyle nodded, eyes still closed. There was so much about Dean to take in, it was overwhelming. "When I stay in one body for too long... It gets hard to hold on."

"But you looked the same." Dean paused for a moment, thinking back to Kyle's eyes that he swore were blue. "Almost."

"I have to change, but it's been a long time since I've been anyone else." He looked up at Dean with a stare that made it hard to recognize himself. It was like looking into a mirror where all of his walls and guards were let down. He'd felt vulnerable before, but he'd never let it show, not even to himself.

"Who is he?" Dean reached out and ran his hand across the stubbly cheek.

"If we make it out of this alive, I'll tell you about him." He smiled a bittersweet smile, the only kind he could manage when thinking about the real Kyle. After what he'd learned in the few minutes of being Dean, he wanted to tell him everything. He wanted Dean to know that he wasn't the only one that had lost everything he'd ever had.

-TBC-


End file.
